One witness said the train pushed the bus along the tracks for nearly half mile.

Angry villagers berated officials in the aftermath of the latest disaster to hit the country's railway system.

Accidents traced to negligence regularly left scores dead during the rule of ousted President Hosni Mubarak, who was accused of valuing loyalty over competence in many appointments of senior officials.

Saturday's tragedy is the worst since the country's first freely elected president, Mohammed Morsi, took power this summer.

The state news agency MENA reported that the transport minister offered his resignation to the president.

The agency said Morsi ordered an investigation into the accident and said that those responsible would be held accountable.